Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

To all of you who live out there somewhere in the world that is not Southern California, be thankful if your house is not in the path of conflagration. Be thankful if you can get some sleep through the night without worrying if the fire racing down the mountain is headed for you.

Be thankful to God if the air you can breathe is not lethal for your lungs. Thank Him profoundly if when you turn the faucet pure water comes out; be thankful if there are disciplined police who guard you from criminals—oh, there are so many blessings that you may have taken for granted all your life.

The dear Lord and Father of us all has not sent these tragic disasters that we call “natural,” but for sure He has permitted them because love for our souls demands that He remind us that this world is not our home. Says the apostle who was inspired by the Holy Spirit, “We know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens “(2 Cor. 5:1).

The most palatial movie star mansion you could buy in Malibu is described here as only a “tent.” The sooner you and I can realize this, the happier we can be.

Two truths emerge bright and clear:

(1) The most secure dwelling we can imagine on earth that money can buy is ethereal. You can’t count on anything. Heart-rending are the stories that the media serve us almost daily of people who had “everything going their way,” and then an all of a sudden car crash, or a cancer diagnosis, interferes, and they are reduced to nothing but fear and anguish.

(2) But Paul’s use of the pronoun “we” and “our” doesn’t mean only the Corinthians he happens to be writing to, but it’s we now, everybody. By virtue of the sacrifice of the infinite Son of God in His love for the world, “we” worthy or not (the right word is “unworthy”), “have a building from God, a house not made with hands.”

This means that Christ has become the cosmic Savior of the world, “the Savior of all men, specially of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:10). He has given “all men” the gift of a reversal of the judicial condemnation that came upon us all “in Adam”; He is the world’s Savior, but He cannot force His salvation on those who refuse it.

Now, unworthy as you know yourself to be, grab hold of the gift He has placed in your hands and don’t let it slip through.

Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.